Hospitality Management Degree Program Courses

  • Introduction to the Hospitality Industry
  • Ethics in Hospitality Management
  • Dynamics of Tourism and Sustainability
  • Service Excellence in the Hospitality Industry
  • Effective Revenue Management

When completing a hospitality management degree program, students will need to complete several crucial courses related to the hospitality industry. These courses serve as the basis of hospitality management and prepare students for higher-level coursework. While there are typically several such courses required of these programs, the following five are among the most common.

Related resource: Top 15 Associate Degrees Online in Hospitality Management

1. Introduction to the Hospitality Industry

One very important course that can be found in most hospitality management programs is known as Introduction to the Hospitality Industry. There are many segments to the hospitality industry including travel and tourism, lodging, food service, entertainment, event management, and sports. This course examines all of these segments in detail to prepare students for upper-level coursework. The main focus of this class is to show students how management is involved in all of these areas.

2. Ethics in Hospitality Management

Another course that is crucial to programs in hospitality management is Ethics in Hospitality Management. As Glenn Withiam described in an article posted on HotelManagement.net, employees’ actions and ethics are under close scrutiny in almost all industries today, and it is no different for the hospitality industry. This course explores the basic foundations of ethics as applied to hospitality management and decision-making. During the course, students will examine several case studies and explore methods of handling each situation as hospitality managers.

3. Dynamics of Tourism and Sustainability

Customers are essential to any successful business, and in the hospitality industry, most customers are tourists. To become a successful hospitality manager, students must first learn about the needs and motives of tourists. The course known as Dynamics of Tourism and Sustainability examines how economic, social, and cultural factors directly influence tourism and the hospitality industry. They will also learn how to use this knowledge for planning and development purposes in their managerial roles.

4. Service Excellence in the Hospitality Industry

Excellence in service is the key to rising above the competition. An important hospitality management course that will teach students how to be stars in the hospitality industry is known as Service Excellence in the Hospitality Industry. Subject areas in the course include methods of process improvement, leading change, challenges of service delivery in the hospitality industry, root cause identification, proper use of analytical tools in problem-solving, and effective decision-making.

5. Effective Revenue Management

Yet another crucial course students will need to complete in a hospitality management degree program is Effective Revenue Management. Positive revenue is vital to the success of any hospitality business. In this course, students will explore such areas as the principles and strategies of revenue management, reservation systems, accurate forecasting, pricing and e-commerce, overbooking, marketing issues, and financial decision-making. Case studies will help students learn how to apply management skills to various financial scenarios.

Aspiring hospitality managers will need to complete a variety of coursework including both core requirements and program-related courses. There are several program-related courses students will encounter in their hospitality management programs, and the five described above are common to most educational facilities.